THE    PROBLEM 


OF  THE 


Sewerage  of   San   Francisco, 


A  POLYCLINIC  LECTURE. 


I.  H.  STALLARD,  M.  B.,  London. 

M.  R.  C.  P.,  London,  etc. 
Phvsician  to  the  San  Francisco  Pulyclinic. 


SAN  FRANCISCO: 

H.  S.  CROCKER  COMPANY,  PRINTERS. 
1892. 


THE   PROBLEM 


OF  THE 


Sewerage   of   San   Francisco 


A  POLTCLINK  LECTURE. 


BY 

1.  H.  STALLARD,  M.  B.,  London, 

M.  R.  C.  P.,  London,  etc. 
Physician  to  the  San  Francisco  Poly  clinic. 


SAN  FRANCISCO: 

H.  S.  CROCKER  COMPANY,  PRINTERS. 
1892. 


LECTURE. 


Mr.  Mayor,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

I  shall  offer  no  apology  on  behalf  of  the  Polyclinic  for  this 
attempt  to  discuss  in  public  the  problem  of  the  sewerage  of 
San  Francisco. 

For  myself,  however,  I  crave  your  kind  indulgence.  I  am 
not  an  engineer,  nor  shall  I  attempt  to  meddle  with  engineer- 
ing questions.  I  shall  speak  rather  as  a  sanitarian  not  alto- 
gether unfamiliar  with  the  nature  and  action  of  defective 
sewers,  but  above  all  I  desire  to  speak  as  a  citizen  of  ordinary 
sense. 

The  problem  before  us  is  one  of  the  deepest  public  interest. 
It  affects  the  health,  lives,  prosperity  and  welfare  of  all  classes 
and  all  ages.  It  is  a  problem  which  cannot  be  left  entirely 
and  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  engineers,  Supervisors,  Com- 
missioners, Boards  of  Works,  or  even  Boards  of  Health.  The 
citizens  of  San  Francisco  have  suffered  so  keenly  in  the  past 
from  ignorant,  wasteful  and  even  injurious  expenditures,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  malfeasance  of  public  officials  and  the  ras- 
cality of  contractors,  that  we  may  reasonably  hope  that  no 
large  expenditure  will  be  incurred,  even  in  the  promotion  of 
the  public  health,  until  the  proposals  and  plans  of  operation 
shall  have  received  the  approval  of  the  majority  of  the  tax- 
payers ;  and  that  approval  must  be  founded  on  the  satisfaction 
of  their  intelligence  and  common  sense. 

I  shall  therefore  do  my  best  to  show  that  the  problem  of 
the  sewerage  is  not  beyond  the  comprehension  of  an  intelligent 
community ;  and  it  is  the  desire  of  the  Polyclinic  staff  to  assist 
in  educating  the  public  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  public 
health,  and  their  hope  is  to  create  an  irresistible  current  of 
public  opinion  in  order  that  what  is  wisest  and  best  may  be 
speedily  adopted  and  effectually  carried  out. 

As  a  preliminary  it  is  desirable  to  satisfy  you  that  there  is  a 
problem  to  discuss.  We  have  amongst  us  Silurians  who  are 
satisfied  with  the  existing  state  of  things.  On  the  authority 
of  every  annual  health  report  they  proclaim  the  city  to  be  the 
healthiest  on  earth,  and  if  we  are  indeed  so  healthy,  why  not 
be  satisfied  ?  What  harm  is  there  in  a  few  foul  sewers  if  we 

£51893 


enjoy  good  health  in  spite  of  them  ?  After  congratulating  the 
citizens  on  their  low  death  rate,  the  present  officer  of  health  calls 
attention  to  the  high  death  rate  of  the  Chinese,  and  states  that 
the  death  rate  of  our  public  institutions  is  also  exceedingly 
heavy.  ' '  If, "  says  he,  "  we  deduct  the  excessive  death  rate  of 
our  Chinese  and  public  institutions,  we  should  exhibit  our  city 
as  one  of  the  most  healthy  on  the  globe,  notwithstanding  the 
deplorable  condition  of  our  sewers." 

Now  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  Chinese  death  rate  is  a 
manufactured  article.  The  Chinese  play  no  part  in  it ;  their 
number,  the  only  basis  for  a  calculation,  is  unknown.  The 
same  number  of  deaths  which  three  years  ago  gave  a  death 
rate  of  16.6  per  thousand,  this  year  gave  35.1  per  thousand, 
and  there  are  no  special  reasons  for  the  difference. 

And  with  regard  to  the  deaths  in  public  institutions  there  is 
no  excess.  In  London  the  proportion  is  about  the  same. 
The  fact  is  that  the  impecunious  invalids,  and  for  that  matter 
the  rich  as  well,  turn  their  faces  to  the  larger  cities  in  search 
of  the  best  professional  advice  and  treatment.  And  assuredly 
there  are  no  special  attractions  provided  by  the  munificence  of 
the  dollar  limit.  Our  so-called  hospital  is  little  better  than  a 
barn.  The  furniture  and  fittings  are  inferior  to  those  of  an 
English  pauper  workhouse.  The  patients  are  attended  by 
rough  and  tyrannical  nurses,  who  exercise  more  power  than 
the  doctors.  There  is  no  staff  of  dressers.  The  students  who 
are  there  to  learn  the  practice  of  their  profession  are  mere 
lookers  on  and  are  not  permitted  either  to  dress  a  wound  or 
bandage  a  broken  limb.  Patients  are  sent  in  for  special  scien- 
tific treatment,  and  come  out  disgusted,  not  having  properly 
received  it.  The  food  would  fail  to  satisfy  a  healthy  laborer, 
much  less  the  sick  and  delicate.  Medical  comforts  are  "  rara 
aves  in  gurgite  vasto."  The  prime  business  of  the  superin- 
tendent is  to  keep  the  expenditure  within  the  low  appropria- 
tion, and  the  total  cost  of  medicines,  attendance  and  food  is 
only  thirteen  cents  a  day  for  each  patient.  The  managers  are 
the  creatures  of  politics.  They  do  not  appoint  the  staff  of 
physicians  and  surgeons,  and  have  no  control  over  them,  and 
the  latter  have  no  voice  whatever  in  the  management.  And 
according  to  my  experience,  which  is  by  no  means  small,  the 
invalid  must  be  destitute  indeed  who  braves  these  horrors. 


Oh  !  for  some  philanthropist  who  would  transfer  the  treat- 
ment of  the  sick  poor  of  San  Francisco  from  the  murky  realms 
of  politics  to  the  glorious  republic  of  voluntary  charity,  and 
who,  like  Vanderbilt  in  New  York,  would  provide  for  the 
Polyclinic  here  a  hospital  worthy  of  the  name  and  of  our  city. 
The  staff  of  the  Polyclinic  will  require  no  pay;  and,  supported 
by  the  generosity  which  has  already  accomplished  so  marvel- 
ous a  result,  we  will  guarantee  that  every  patient  shall  re- 
ceive the  attendance,  treatment  and  comforts  which  his  case 
demands. 

And  now  as  to  the  death  rate.  The  Registrar- General  of 
England  states  that  ''The  rates  in  one  country  or  in  one  city 
cannot  be  safely  compared  with  the  rates  of  another  without  cor- 
rection for  sex  and  age  distribution."  What  does  he  mean  ? 
First  as  to  sex.  Here  is  the  sex  mortality  of  four  large  cities, 
and  you  see  how  different  they  are. 

MORTALITY  OF  SEXES. 

Males.  Females.  Males.            Females. 

Philadelphia 11,140  10,590  +      550 

Boston 4,983  4,854  +      129 

Baltimore J>947  l,972                                 +  25 

San  Francisco 4,208  2,695  +  1,513 

The  census  returns  for  1890  have  not  yet  been  published;  but 
in  1880  there  were  in  San  Francisco  31,257  more  males  than 
females;  and  the  whole  of  this  disparity  was  of  persons  over 
twenty  years  of  age.  We  shall  presently  observe  the  effect  oi 
this  upon  the  death  rate. 

But  the  age  distribution  is  still  more  remarkable.  I  present 
you  with  this  table  compararing  the  age  distribution  in  Eng- 
land, Massachusetts  and  San  Francisco: 

AGES  OF  THE  POPULATION  PER  CENT  IN  ENGLAND, 
MASSACHUSETTS  AND  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

England.  Massachusetts.  San  Francisco 

Under  20  years 59          39  39 

"   25   "   10  9  10 

"   45   "   21          30          38 

"   65   "   6          16          10 

Over  65   "   4  6  3 

IOO  IOO  IOO 


Here  you  will  see  that  San  Francisco  has  twenty  per  cent 
fewer  persons  than  England  under  twenty  years  of  age. 
Moreover,  that  the  disparity  between  England  and  Massachu- 
setts is  the  same.  This  difference  is  explained  by  the  differ- 
ence in  the  birth  rate.  In  London,  for  example,  there  are 
annually  thirty-four  births  (not  counting  still-births)  to  one 
thousand  living.  But  in  Massachusetts  and  America  gene- 
rally there  are  only  twenty-five.  We  have  no  reliable  statis- 
tics for  San  Francisco. 

Now  young  infants  are  extremly  sensitive  to  their  sanitary  sur- 
roundings. It  is  the  most  deadly  year  of  life.  About  two  hun- 
dred out  of  every  one  thousand  die  before  they  reach  one  year  of 
age  ;  probably  more  in  San  Francisco.  The  number  of  deaths 
therefore  increases  with  the  birth  rate.  In  London  twenty-three 
per  cent  of  the  total  mortality  is  under  one  year,  but  as  the  births 
are  less  numerous  here  they  form  only  nineteen  per  cent  of  the 
total.  If  San  Francisco  had  the  same  number  of  births  to  every 
thousand  living  as  London,  there  would  be  at  least  250  more 
deaths  annually,  augmenting  the  death  rate  nearly  one  per 
thousand. 

But  in  the  next  place  we  have  in  San  Francisco  twent}^  per  cent 
more  of  persons  between  twenty-five  and  forty-five  years  of  age, 
and  two  thirds  of  them  are  males,  no  doubt  for  the  most  part 
immigrants.  This  period  of  life  is  subject  to  a  low  death  rate.  In 
the  absence  of  census  returns,  we  may  estimate  the  number  of 
persons  living  at  this  age  in  San  Francisco  at  about  130,000; 
and,  as  we  find  by  the  last  report  that  the  mortality  was  1,471, 
the  annual  death  rate  of  this  class  is  therefore  eleven  per 
thousand.  This  may  appear  low,  but  in  a  perfectly  healthy 
community  it  would  be  much  less. 

The  annual  death  rate  of  the  British  army  in  England,  the 
men  being  all  of  these  ages,  is  only  six  per  one  thousand,  and  in 
the  sailors  of  the  British  navy  it  is  only  four  per  thousand.  We 
may  by  this  comparison  safely  affirm  that  the  excessive  death 
rate  is  due  to  preventable  causes,  and  that,  if  the  sanitary  con- 
ditions of  the  citizens  of  San  Francisco  were  as  good  as  those 
of  the  British  army  and  navy,  we  should  annually  save  nearly 
seven  hundred  lives,  all  in  the  very  prime  of  life. 

There  is  yet  another  class  in  which,  if  exact  data  were 
available,  we  might  find  an  unnecessary  loss  of  life.  We  have 


in  San  Francisco  86,000  children  of  school  age, — five  to  seven- 
teen,— for  whom  the  death  rate  ought  to  be  extremely  low. 
Let  me  tell  you  how  low  it  can  be  made.  Some  forty  years  ago 
the  pauper  children  of  London  were  removed  to  large  public 
schools.  They  were  taken  from  the  lowest  class  ;  they  were 
of  feeble  constitutions,  the  subjects  of  rickets,  opthalmia,  scald- 
head  and  struma.  They  had  been  badly  housed,  badly  fed 
and  badly  clothed.  They  were  taken  from  the  gutters.  It 
was  thought  well  that  the  death  rate  was  as  low  as  fourteen  in 
the  thousand  annually.  But  the  prevalence  of  preventable 
disease  led  to  the  improvement  of  the  drainage,  and  down 
went  the  death  rate  to  eight  per  thousand.  Soon  after  this 
the  ventilation  was  improved,  and  every  child  given  a  separate 
bed.  Then  the  death  rate  was  further  reduced  to  six  per 
thousand.  Later  on  more  attention  was  paid  to  personal 
hygiene ;  cleanliness  was  promoted,  the  dietary  improved, 
and  physical  training  introduced.  Again  the  death  rate  was 
reduced  to  four  per  thousand,  and  last  year  such  was  the 
mproved  conditition  of  the  children,  that  the  death  rate  was 
only  three  per  thousand.  Meantime  the  aspect  of  the  child- 
ren has  completely  changed.  They  are  no  longer  recognizable 
as  paupers.  Formerly  pale  and  weak,  they  have  become 
ruddy  and  strong.  Formerly  stupid  and  lazy,  they  are  now 
bright  and  intelligent.  Now  San  Francisco  may  fairly  boast 
of  having  the  finest  and  brightest  children  on  earth,  and  it 
would  be  a  sad  reflection  if  their  death  rate  should  be  higher 
than  that  of  those  paupers.  There  are  no  data  for  comparison, 
but  three  per  cent  would  give  only  258  deaths  for  all  the 
school  children  of  San  Francisco. 

But  sanitarians  are  accustomed  to  look  less  to  the  general 
rate  of  mortality  as  a  test  of  the  condition  of  the  sewerage, 
than  to  the  prevalence  of  certain  diseases  which  prevail  ex- 
cessively when  the  sewerage  is  defective  and  are  invariably 
reduced  by  its  improvement.  I  have  selected  diphtheria  and 
typhoid  fever  as  typical  examples,  in  order  to  compare  their 
mortality  with  that  of  other  cities.  But  it  is  desirable  to  ob- 
serve that  sanitarians  believe  that  it  is  just  as  possible  to  pre- 
vent these  diseases  altogether  as  it  is  to  prevent  small-pox  by 
vaccination.  If  then  I  compare  the  death  rate  of  San  Fran- 
cisco with  that  of  London  or  Boston,  it  is  not  for  the  purpose 


of  holding  up  the  reputation  of  those  cities  as  examples  of  good 
sewerage,  for  neither  of  them  are  so,  but  for  showing  how 
dark  the  sanitary  picture  in  San  Francisco  is,  and  what  great 
opportunities  there  are  for  its  improvement. 

ENGLISH   AND   AMERICAN   DEATH   RATES.— 1891. 


City. 

Population.     ] 

Death  rate. 

?ooPooo  hvinP|.r   , 

Typhoid   f 
3er  100,000  1 

London 

.     4,221,452 

2i    i 

^2.O 

I4.O 

Brighton  .    .    . 

.     .     .           115,606 

lS.2 

O 

IO.O 

IO.O 

Norwich  . 

.     .           101,361 

IQ.  3 

27.0 

20.  o 

Liverpool    .    . 

-7     O 

27.0 

12.  O 

25.0 

Hull 

2OO,9^4 

21  .O 

7.O 

22.  O 

Boston  .... 

.     .     .          448,477 

22.5 

IOO.O 

32.0 

Cincinnati 

.     .     .          325,000 

19.8 

124.0 

63.0 

Philadelphia   . 

.     .     .      1,046,964 

2O-7 

50.0 

54-o 

San  Francisco 

.     .     .          330,000 

2O.  O 

IOO.O 

40.0 

Alatneda  .    .    . 

.     .     .             I2,OOO 

12.0 

•75 

.0 

San  Diego   .    . 

.     .     .             16,000 

H-3 

.00 

•75 

Diphtheria  is  not  as  closely  associated  with  defective  sewers 
as  typhoid  fever.  It  is  propagated  largely  by  personal  inter- 
course. But  its  germ  is  extremely  persistent.  It  lies  dor- 
mant for  a  long  time  in  dirty  linen,  dirty  walls  and  floors, 
filthy  subsoil,  and  in  sewer  filth.  The  germ  is  propagated  on 
the  surface  of  filth  and  the  damp  walls  of  sewers.  In  San 
Francisco  last  year  there  were  318  deaths,  whilst  in  all  London 
there  were  but  568.  In  London  the  rate  is  thirty-two  per 
100,000  living,  and  in  San  Francisco  one  hundred  per  100,000 
living,  or  more  than  three  times  as  many  in  proportion.  In  many 
parts  of  London  there  was  absolutely  no  diphtheria.  If  the 
mortality  in  San  Francisco  had  been  at  the  London  rate,  there 
would  have  been  ninety-six  deaths,  and  we  should  have  saved 
222  lives.  For  every  death  there  were  at  least  five  recoveries, 
so  that  we  have  had  over  1,200  cases.  At  only  $100  each  for 
nursing,  doctors  and  undertakers,  we  have  lost  $120,000  last 
year  by  the  excessive  .prevalence  of  this  one  disease. 

No  fact  in  sanitary  science  is  better  established  than  the 
close  connection  between  defective  sewers  and  typhoid  fever. 
Mainly  by  sewerage  improvement  the  English  death  rate  from 
typhoid  fever  has  been  reduced  since  1869  from  thirty-nine  to 
seventeen  in  100,000.  Last  year  we  had  129  deaths,  or  forty 
in  100,000  living.  In  London  last  autumn  the  whole  medical 


—  9  — 

press  was  down  on  the  sanitary  authorities,  owing  to  the  prev- 
alence of  typhoid,  and  yet  last  year  there  were  only  fourteen 
deaths  in  the  100,000  living.  If  the  mortality  in  San  Francisco 
had  been  at  this  rate,  there  would  have  been  forty-two  deaths 
in  1891,  so  that  there  was  an  excess  of  eighty -seven  deaths. 
For  every  death  about  twenty  persons  suffer,  making,  there- 
fore, 1,740  illnesses.  The  average  duration  of  each  illness  is  at 
least  one  month,  with  a  convalescence  often  prolonged  for  sev- 
eral more.  If  we  make  the  modest  estimate  of  $200  for  the 
cost  of  nursing,  feeding,  doctoring,  burying  those  who  die,  the 
loss  of  wages  during  sickness,  and  the  impaired  constitutions 
of  those  who  recover,  we  have  in  one  year,  from  one  disease 
only,  a  total  loss  of  about  $350,000. 

Time  will  not  permit  me  to  prove  the  deadly  influence  of 
defective  sewerage  on  other  diseases,  such  as  la  grippe,  pneu- 
monia and  consumption.  By  lowering  the  standard  of  vitality, 
bad  air  makes  the  whole  community  more  susceptible  to 
attacks  of  disease,  and  destroys  our  power  to  resist  them.  But 
I  cannot  forbear  from  quoting  the  experience  of  my  native 
town.  For  a  series  of  years  before  the  execution  of  any  sani- 
tary works,  Leicester  had  an  annual  mortality  from  Phthisis  of 
435  per  hundred  thousand  living.  Thirty  miles  of  sewerage 
were  constructed,  and  the  rate  fell  to  252.  During  the  last 
twenty  years  the  sewers  have  been  greatly  extended,  and  the 
outfalls  improved.  The  Phthisis  mortality  is  now  170  in  100,- 
ooo.  In  San  Francisco  we  had  reported  959  deaths,  or  about 
300  in  100,000  living.  By  using  the  same  means  we  may 
expect  the  same  result,  which  would  effect  a  saving  of  450  lives. 

I  trust  I  have  demonstrated  beyond  a  doubt  that  we  have, 
in  San  Francisco,  a  wide  field  for  sanitary  improvement.  No 
city  in  the  world  is  built  upon  a  healthier  site  or  enjoys  a 
healthier  climate.  The  inhabitants  have  been  drawn  from 
every  quarter  of  the  globe.  The}'  are  distinguished  for  their 
physical  and  intellectual  development.  They  inhabit  well- 
built  houses,  have  an  abundant  and  good  supply  of  water, 
and  they  are  justly  entitled  to  expect  the  longest  lives.  There 
are  large  country  districts  and  some  towns  of  considerable  size, 
both  in  the  East  and  England,  which  have  an  annual  death 
rate  of  only  twelve  per  thousand.  This  is  the  standard  pro- 
posed by  the  late  Sir  Edwin  Chadwick  for  all  large  cities, 


—  10  — 

and  this  is  the  standard  we  should  aim  to  reach.  The  deaths 
would  then  be  about  four  thousand  in  the  year  as  against 
6,650.  Suppose,  however,  we  attain  to  the  salvation  of  two 
thousand  lives.  We  may  reckon  the  cost  of  funerals  at  one 
hundred  dollars  each,  and  save  two  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
Add  to  this  five  unnecessary  illnesses  for  every  death,  and 
put  down  the  cost  of  nursing,  doctoring,  loss  of  wages  and 
impaired  constitutions,  at  $150  each,  and  we  have  altogether 
a  million  and  a  half  to  be  saved  within  one  year.  For  the 
sake  of  argument,  give  me  this  sum  and  I  will  try  to  point 
out  in  what  direction  it  may  be  spent  with  the  best  advantage. 

In  discussing  the  problem  we  have  in  hand,  I  shall  quote 
largely  from  the  report  made  by  Mr.  W.  P.  Humphreys  in 
1876,  to  the  Board  of  Supervisors. 

After  visiting  European  and  Eastern  cities,  Mr.  Humphreys 
presented  his  plan  of  sewerage,  which  was  fully  indorsed  by 
Col.  Alexander,  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Engineers.  Although  not 
formally  adopted,  this  report  has  exercised  much  influence 
over  the  construction  of  sewers  by  his  pupils  and  successors 
in  office,  and  many  of  his  recommendations  have  been  com- 
menced and  some  of  them  more  or  less  completely  carried  out. 

I  shall  also  refer  to  the  report  of  Mr.  Harrison  Smith,  pre- 
sented four  years  ago,  in  which  the  scientific  principles  in- 
volved are  discussed  and  the  various  areas  of  drainage  are 
defined.  This  report  was  indorsed  by  Prof.  I^e  Conte. 

I  shall  also  have  to  quote  the  opinions  of  my  friend  Sir  R. 
Rawlinson,  K.  C.  B.,  who  was  for  so  many  years  the  sani- 
tary advising  engineer  for  the  Governments  of  England  and 
India,  and  without  whose  approval  no  extensive  works  of 
sewerage  could  be  carried  out  in  those  countries. 

'The  true  purpose  of  a  sewer,"  says  Mr.  Humphreys,  "is 
' '  the  ready  removal  of  rainwater  and  all  organic  refuse  capa- 
1 '  ble  of  being  conveyed  by  water  from  the  vicinity  of  dwell- 
"  ings  to  the  bay.  The  day's  sewage  of  each  street  and  house 
"  should  be  removed  from  the  city  on  the  day  of  its  produc- 
"  tion  before  decomposition  begins.  All  sewers  should  be  of 
' '  proper  size  and  grade  in  order  to  be  made  self-cleansing. ' ' 

The  rainfall  is  his  first  consideration,  and  quoting  from  Mr. 
Tennant  he  finds  that  the  heaviest  rain  recorded  occurred  on 
the  i gth  of  December,  1886,  and  amounted  to  4.28  inches  in 


—  li- 
the twenty-four  hours.  Arbitrarily  adding  thirty-nine  per 
cent  to  this  he  concludes  that  no  rainfall  is  likely  to  exceed 
one-fourth  of  an  inch  per  hour.  He  then  proceeds  to  guess  at 
the  quantity  which  will  reach  the  sewers  in  a  given  time, — one 
hour ;  and  again  with  no  more  evidence  he  fixes  it  at  sixty 
per  cent.  Fifteen  hundred ths  of  an  inch  of  rainfall  within  an 
hour  had  to  be  provided  for  by  sewers.  This,  for  an  acre,  his 
unit  of  area,  would  be  544-.  5  cubic  feet. 

The  daily  flow  of  household  sewage  per  head  of  population 
is  next  considered.  On  this  point  there  was  at  that  time  no 
established  evidence.  It  was  all  guess,  and  he  places  it  at 
sixty  gallons  per  head,  and  says  it  is  a  large  allowance.  To 
reduce  this  to  his  unit  of  an  acre  he  makes  another  guess, 
that  there  are  eighty  people  living  on  that  acre.  This  gives 
640  cubic  feet  per  acre,  half  of  which  he  believes  will  reach  the 
sewers  in  eight  hours,  or  at  the  rate  of  forty  cubic  feet  per 
hour, — making  a  total  for  rainfall  and  sewage  of  584  cubic 
feet  her  hour. 

Lastly,  as  it  is  certain  that  many  localities  have  more  than 
eighty  persons  on  the  acre,  another  arbitrary  guess  is  made, 
and  the  total  is  raised  to  617.10  cubic  feet  per  acre  per  hour,  or 
10.285  cubic  feet  per  minute.  This  scale  of  capacity  was  cal- 
culated to  solve  the  problem,  and  there  is  no  doubt  it  was  prac- 
tically adopted  in  the  construction  of  the  sewers  from  that 
date. 

Now  the  617.10  cubic  feet  equals  4,628  gallons  which  for  the 
total  area  of  the  city  is  about  fifty  million  gallons  in  an  hour; 
and  we  need  no  longer  wonder  that  sewers  have  been  erected 
eleven  feet  six  inches  wide,  or  only  six  inches  less  than  the  great 
outfall  sewers  of  London,  which  are  only  twelve  feet  wide,  and 
which  carry  the  sewage  of  4,220,000  people,  and  through 
which  are  transmitted  one  hundred  million  gallons  in  a  day. 

Mr.  Smith  is  much  more  cautious.  He  says  there  are  no  re- 
liable data  for  the  calculation  of  an  hour's  rain,  and  that  the 
largest  rainfall  of  a  day  might  be  passed  safely  through  a 
sewer  of  moderate  size  if  equally  distributed  o:ver  many  hours. 
He  says  that  large  sewers  are  extremely  objectionable  as  con- 
duits for  ordinary  sewage.  He  observes  that  the  quantity  of 
rainfall  which  will  reach  the  sewers  in  a  given  time  depends 
upon  the  character  of  the  surface,  whether  paved  or  otherwise, 


—  12  — 

whether  open  or  covered  with  houses,  the  inclination  and 
geological  formation  of  the  ground,  all  of  which  vary  greatly 
sometimes  in  contiguous  blocks. 

Sir  R.  Rawlinson  says  that  no  calculations  can  be  relied 
on  to  determine  rainfall,  and  that  the  primary  office  of  a  sewer 
is  to  carry  sewage,  that  is,  the  effete  organic  refuse  of  asso- 
ciated human  life.  That  it  is  the  first  duty  of  the  engineer  to 
preserve  intact  and  to  improve  the  natural  watercourses,  and  to 
add  to  them  if  practicable,  so  that  as  much  rainfall  as  possible 
may  be  passed  to  the  natural  outlets  through  the  natural  chan- 
nels, or  in  other  words,  kept  out  of  the  sewers.  This  he  calls 
the  separate  system.  He  states  that  in  India,  where  the  sea- 
sons are  wet  and  dry,  like  those  here,  but  more  pronounced, 
the  heavier  the  rainfall  the  smaller  must  the  sewers  be. 

This  advice  seems  to  be  right  and  good.  Its  object  is  to 
preserve  the  purity  of  the  natural  streams  and  watercourses  ; 
to  reduce  the  dimensions  and  increase  the  definition  of  the 
problem  to  be  solved  ;  to  restrict  the  amount  of  sewage  which 
even  when  highly  diluted  is  a  filthy  liquid  ;  to  keep  the  size 
and  cost  of  sewers  within  moderate  proportions,  and  lastly  to 
restrict  the  admission  of  sand,  which  is  both  difficult  and 
costly  to  remove,  which  checks  the  velocity  of  the  sewage  cur- 
rent, and  favors  the  formation  of  deposits  giving  off  dangerous 
emanations. 

Now  let  us  examine  an  example  of  Mr.  Humphreys'  plan, 
and  place  it  in  contrast  with  the  advice  of  Sir  R.  Rawlinson. 

In  the  southwestern  part  of  the  city  there  was  formerly  an 
open  watercourse  called  Precita  creek  ;  it  ran  in  a  somewhat 
tortuous  course  from  Mission  street  down  what  is  now  called 
Army  street  near  Twenty-fifth,  to  the  San  Bruno  road,  and 
was  lost  on  Mission  Flats  near  to  the  pest-house.  This  creek, 
like  all  others  in  California,  was  dry  in  summer  and  occasion- 
ally ran  full  in  winter.  Its  depth  was  considerable,  and  it  was 
about  a  mile  long.  Soon  houses  and  streets  were  built  upon 
the  banks,  and  the  sewage  of  those  houses  was  discharged  into 
the  open  watercourse.  In  a  few  years  this  grew  to  be  an 
intolerable  and  dangerous  nuisance,  and  is  not  cured  to-day. 
About  1875  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  was  obtained  to  abate 

e  evil  at  the  cost  of  the  whole  community. 

Now,  according  to  the  proposals  of  Sir  R.  Rawlinson,  the 
creek  should  have  been  restored  to  its  natural  office,  viz.,  the 


—  13  — 

transmission  of  the  rainfall  to  the  bay.  Sewage  should  have 
been  kept  out  of  it  by  intercepting  sewers,  which  should  have 
been  put  upon  its  banks.  These,  by  no  possibility,  need  be 
large,  as  the  sewage  here  is  not  the  one-thousandth  part  of  a 
storm  rainfall,  and  their  cost  would  have  been  a  bagatelle. 

Instead  of  doing  this,  the  engineers  of  San  Francisco  pro- 
ceeded to  put  the  whole  mile  of  creek  into  the  sewer.  They 
constructed  a  sewer  which  is  eleven  feet  and  six  inches  wide, 
eight  feet  and  nine  inches  from  top  to  botton,  and  has  an 
invert  only  fifteen  inches  deep,  that  is,  nearly  flat.  Through 
this  sewer  you  might  drive  a  wagon.  The  first  cost  to  the 
city  was  $160,000,  and  more  than  $40,000  have  since  been  spent 
upon  its  extensions.  The  outlet  is  930  feet  in  length  and  is 
made  of  wood.  It  is  tortuous  in  its  course,  and  affords  a 
brilliant  example  of  the  San  Francisco  engineering.  It  is 
only  six  feet  wide,  with  a  contracted  bottom,  and  four  feet, 
six  inches  high,  consequently  its  area  is  about  one-fourth 
that  of  the  sewer  from  which  it  commences  and  which  it  is 
expected  to  keep  empty.  It  has  a  fall  of  fifteen  inches  in  the 
distance.  This  seems  indubitable  proof  that  the  original 
sewer  was  at  least  four  times  too  large. 

And  now  let  us  examine  the  result.  As  a  creek  it  is 
undoubtedly  a  costly  success.  The  filth,  if  there  is  any,  is  out 
of  sight.  It  carries  off  the  rainfall.  It  rarely  runs  more  than 
one  foot  and  a  half  in  depth,  and  then  only  for  a  few  hours  in 
the  year.  In  the  rainy  season  the  sewerage  proper  cannot  be 
recognized  as  such.  The  current  is  increased  by  numerous 
land  springs  from  the  hills  above  Noe  and  from  Bernal  Heights. 
Immense  quantities  of  sand  and  gravel  are  brought  down. 
The  scour  has  washed  out  the  cement  between  the  bricks,  and 
the  floor  of  the  sewer  is  like  a  cobble-stone  pavement,  provid- 
ing a  lodgement  for  filth  as  soon  as  the  scour  is  over.  Mean- 
time the  fine  sand  is  washed  into  Mission  creek  and  the 
coarse  gravel  left  behind.  Every  year  it  has  to  be  removed 
by  hand  labor.  Last  year  it  took  five  gangs  of  men  six  weeks 
to  take  it  out,  and  the  cost  must  have  been  more  than  two 
thousand  dollars.  This  gravel  is  eagerly  sought  after  by  the 
people  living  near  to  make  garden  walks,  and  it  has  been 
used  to  pave  the  streets. 


—  14  — 

But  now  what  happens  when  the  rain  has  ceased  and  the 
springs  are  dry  ?  There  is  now  nothing  remaining  but  domestic 
sewage,  every  gallon  of  which  is  supplied  to  the  district  by 
trie  Spring  Valley  Water  Works. 

The  flow  of  sewage  according  to  my  own  observation 
rarely  runs  more  than  three  or  four  inches  deep.  For  an 
hour  a  day  it  might  possibly  be  six;  but  it  is  intermittent, 
ceasing  altogether  for  some  hours  when  its  producers  are 
asleep.  The  current  first  brings  down  the  sand  which  was 
washed  into  the  sewers  in  the  higher  levels.  The  invert  is 
reduced  in  depth  and  becomes  flat  at  the  bottom.  The  velocity 
of  the  current  is  reduced.  Soon  are  brought  down,  step  by 
step,  all  those  articles  of  domestic  use  which  ignorant  house- 
keepers, lazy  domestics  and  mischievous  children  are  accus- 
tomed to  cram  down  their  water-closets,  viz.,  rags,  bones,  dish- 
cloths, old  shoes,  worn-out  articles  of  clothing,  broken  glass, 
earthernware,  spoons,  knives  and  forks  and  children's  toys  of 
every  kind;  and  these,  in  this  wide  and  sluggish  stream, 
become  stranded  on  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the  sewer.  Del- 
tas of  filth  collect  at  the  entrances  of  the  laternal  sewers. 
Thus  a  deposit  of  filth  is  soon  formed  :  stench  and  dangerous 
gases  are  given  off,  which,  passing  up  into  the  drainage  area, 
infect  the  whole  district  with  their  dangerous  effusions.  One 
effect,  however,  is  to  purify  the  sewage  in  a  small  degree,  so 
that  when  it  reaches  a  lower  part  of  the  sewer  we  find  a 
different  condition  of  affairs.  The  sewage  flow  no  longer 
occupies  the  middle  of  the  sewer,  but  is  diverted  by  the 
accumulation  of  islands  of  deposits.  The  stream  becomes 
winding  and  divided  into  a  hundred  channels,  each  a  few 
inches  wide  and  deep,  or  meanders  from  side  to  side  like  creeks 
on  the  muddy  fore-shores  of  the  bay.  Thus  we  have  formed  a 
sort  of  subterranean  sewage  irrigation  farm  ;  plants  of  a  low 
order  of  vegetation  grow  in  the  dark  and  murky  atmosphere, 
and  when  the  sewage  arrives  at  the  outlet  near  Islais  creek 
its  character  has  entirely  changed.  It  has  become  bright  and 
sparkling  ;  it  has  lost  all  its  odor  ;  in  the  graphic  words  of  the 
gentlemen  who  has  his  tannery  at  the  outlet, — "In  the  early 
days,"  said  he,  "  I  have  drank  much  worse  looking  water,  and 
if  I  did  not  know  where  it  came  from  I  would  not  hesitate 
to  drink  this  now.  Sure  it  is  soft  and  admirably  adapted 
to  manufacturing  and  laundry  purposes." 


—  15  — 

So,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  we  have  here  constructed  at 
enormous  cost  a  huge  sewer  for  the  purpose  of  removing  the 
day's  sewage  from  each  street  and  house  to  the  bay,  on  the 
day  of  its  production,  before  decomposition  can  take  place,  which 
fails  completely  to  perform  its  duty,  and,  at  the  very  time  of 
year  when  the  organic  refuse  becomes  most  dangerous  and 
deadly,  absolutely  retains  the  whole  of  it  for  months  together 
to  destroy  the  health  and  lives  of  those  who  live  above  it,  and 
for  whose  benefit  it  was  ostensibly  constructed. 

But  I  must  further  illustrate  by  another  case. 

The  Channel-street  sewer  was  built  in  1872;  and  in  1876  Mr. 
Humphreys  stated  that  the  completion  of  the  drainage  of  Mis- 
sion creek  was  a  most  urgent  matter.  The  sewer  was  designed 
to  drain  an  area  east  of  Twenty-second  street,  reaching  to  Doug- 
lass and  the  Park.  This  area  will  shortly  be  increased  at  least 
one-third  by  the  addition  of  the  Fell-street  system.  The  Fell- 
street  sewers  are  10,300  feet  long,  and  the  contract  is  not  yet 
completed.  The  cost  to  the  property  owners  is  $125,000.  The 
whole  of  the  drainage  of  this  district  will  pass  through  the 
Channel-street  sewer,  which  goes  from  Eighteenth  street  near 
to  Potrero  avenue  to  Ninth  and  Brannan  streets.  This  part  of 
the  sewer  is  4,000  feet  long,  and  for  the  greater  part  of  its 
course  it  is  nine  feet  six  inches  wide,  and  seven  feet  six  inches 
high,  with  an  invert  like  that  of  Army  street.  This  sewer  cost 
$176,000,  and  its  extension  along  Eighteenth  street  $25,000 
more  ;  and  now  let  us  examine  its  workings.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  it  brings  down  a  large  amount  of  sewage,  which, 
however,  has  become  thoroughly  stinking  and  putrescent  Jong 
before  it  arrives  at  the  outlet.  The  Eighteenth-street  sewer,  a 
five-foot  oval,  from  which  the  Channel  street  begins,  now  con- 
tains three  feet  two  inches  of  deposit,  leaving  only  a  small 
segment  open  at  the  top  of  the  sewer  for  the  flow  of  sewage. 
Nearly  all  the  lateral  sewers  are  more  or  less  obstructed. 
From  the  day  of  its  construction  the  Channel-street  sewer  has 
been  more  or  less  choked  by  sand  brought  down  from  the 
immense  drainage  area.  The  sand  is  black  and  stinking. 
Yearly  attempts  have  been  made  to  clean  it  out.  Two  or 
three  years  ago  a  zealous  Superintendent  of  Streets  put 
twenty-five  men  to  work  upon  it,  but  their  efforts  were  in  vain. 
When  they  made  a  hole  in  the  sand  one  day,  they  found  it 


—  16  — 

filled  up  the  next.  After  two  weeks'  work  the  attempt  was 
abandoned.  In  September  last  the  deposit  reached  to  the 
depth  of  four  feet  nine  inches,  occupying  considerably  more 
than  half  the  capacity  of  the  sewer.  It  contained  about  18,000 
cubic  yards  of  filth,  and  a  contract  was  let  for  $4,000  to  have  it 
cleaned  out.  Work  was  commenced  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
last  September  and  the  men  are  still  there.  At  first  five  men 
were  employed ;  then  for  two  weeks,  twenty-five  ;  then  the 
contractor  sold  his  contract  in  despair  to  Mr.  Tilton,  senior. 
By  an  ingenious  flushing  arrangement,  about  half  of  the  deposit 
is  now  removed.  At  my  last  visit  two  or  three  days  ago  it  was 
still  two  feet  three  inches  deep.  The  contractor  finds  that  the 
sand  comes  in  almost  as  fast  as  he  can  take  it  out.  If  work  is 
discontinued  on  the  Sunday,  lie  finds  on  Monday  morning  two 
inches  more  of  sand  than  there  was  on  Saturday.  I  had  him 
measure  the  increase  from  one  night's  rainfall,  and  it  was  four 
inches.  Sand  enough  has  been  taken  from  this  sewer  to  fill  it 
three  times  over.  I  doubt  seriously  if  the  contract  can  ever  be 
fulfilled,  and  the  contractor  states  that  it  will  require  the  con- 
stant attention  of  at  least  two  men  to  keep  it  reasonably  clear. 
The  condition  of  this  sewer  indicates  another  difficulty,  viz., 
the  impossibility  of  erecting  large  brick  sewers  in  a  soft, 
sandy  soil  permeated  by  water,  or  below  the  tidal  line.  The 
contract  provided  that  in  soft  ground  the  sewer  should  be  ade- 
quately supported  by  timber  and  concrete  ;  but  in  spite  of  this 
the  sewer  has  gradually  sunk  at  both  ends  and  is  now  broken 
in  the  middle.  I  am  informed  that  it  would  cost  $25,000  to 
repair  the  damage.  All  these  evils  would  have  been  prevented, 
the  greater  part  of  this  ruinous  expenditure  would  have  been 
saved,  if  the  rainfall  had  been  conducted  directly  and  in  unpol- 
luted channels  to  the  Mission  creek,  which  it  would  have  kept 
in  a  clean  and  wholesome  state ;  and  the  sewage,  instead  of 
being  a  source  of  constant  and  interminable  pollution,  might 
have  been  otherwise  disposed  of.  This  sewer  was  the  work  of 
Mr.  W.  P.  Humphreys,  and  if  these  are  specimen  self-cleaning 
sewers,  to  be  built  upon  the  data  to  be  supplied  by  this  gentle- 
man to  the  new  Board  of  Engineers  at  the  cost  not  exceeding 
$600  a  month,  it  is  time  to  appeal  to  the  common  sense  of  the 
community  to  prevent  any  such  accomplishment. 

One  more  example  before  I  pass  on.     The   Brannan-street 
sewer  was  devised  by  Mr.   Humphreys  to  carry  the  sewage  of 


—  17  — 

Channel  street  to  the  bay.  It  was  commenced  at  First  street 
and  was  completed  as  far  as  Fourth  street  in  1881-82.  It 
is  of  the  same  size  and  shape  as  Army  street.  $68,000  was  the 
cost.  It  is  level  from  end  to  end.  The  mouth  of  the  sewer 
is  wholly  submerged  at  high  tide.  This  sewer  is  now  in  course 
of  extension  to  Ninth  street,  where  it  will  connect  with  Chan- 
nel, and  here  also  it  is  practically  level.  The  tide,  therefore, 
will  nearly  fill  the  whole  sewer  up  to  Ninth  street.  The  over- 
flow will  thus  be  permanently  obstructed.  The  contract,  now 
in  course  of  fulfillment,  is  $68,000,  and  it  may  be  more,  owing 
to  the  difficulties  encountered  in  constructing  such  sewers  in 
soft  sand  below  the  tide  level.  As  it  is  obvious  that  the  out- 
let will  become  a  frightful  nuisance  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Pacific  Mail  dock,  I  observe  that  a  proposal  has  been 
passed  to  erect  a  wooden  outlet,  seventy-five  feet  in  length,  to 
carry  the  sewage  outflow  into  the  deeper  water.  I  believe 
it  is  also  proposed  to  place  a  huge  valve  upon  the  outlet  which 
is  to  open  only  when  the  tide  is  low.  What  will  be  the  prob- 
ible  result  ?  Such  an  arrangement  is  not  likely  to  promote 
the  outflow  of  sewage  or  the  cleaning  of  the  sewer;  and  the 
sewage  which  does  get  out,  being  lighter  and  warmer  than  the 
sea  water,  will  rise  immediately  to  the  surface  as  a  black, 
stinking  liquid,  and  will  float  around  and  foul  the  foreshores 
near.  Here  then,  when  completed,  we  shall  have  one  of  the 
longest  tidal  sewers  in  the  world.  Millions  of  gallons  of  salt 
water  will  flow  in  and  out  with  every  tide,  and  the  gases 
generated  will  be  driven  back  upon  the  upper  reaches  of  the 
city,  where  they  will  create  disease.  "All  tidal  outlets,"  says 
Sir  R.  Rawlinson,  "must  be  absolutely  disconnected  from  the 
house  sewers."  It  is  lamentable  to  think  that  such  immense 
sums  have  been  wasted  upon  the  construction  of  such  danger- 
ous works. 

Hitherto  I  have  confined  my  attention  to  the  more  recently 
constructed  works,  and  have  described  only  the  salient  points; 
but  time  and  words  both  fail  me  in  the  attempt  to  describe  the 
condition  of  the  down-town  sewers.  These  were  constructed 
between  1858  and  1874,  are  74  miles  in  length,  at  a  cost  of 
$36,000  per  mile.  In  those  days  all  sewers  were  made  large 
enough  to  allow  the  admission  of  a  man  to  clear  away  deposits. 
Alleys  and  short  streets,  where  there  are  only  a  few  houses, 


-18  — 

have  sewers  of  the  same  size  as  those  of  the  largest  streets. 
The  grades  are  most  irregular,  and  as  they  approach  the  bay 
the  sewers  are  either  level  or  run  up  hill.  All  the  sewers 
below  Montgomery  street  are  tidal.  The  outflow  being 
checked,  they  become  elongated  cess  pools  badly  choked  with 
filth.  In  1885  an  inquiry  was  made  as  to  the  condition  of 
sewers  in  this  respect,  and  it  was  estimated  that  there  were 
18,000  cubic  yards  of  filth  in  those  examined.  I  have  lately 
visited  many  of  these  sewers  under  the  guidance  of  the  officer 
of  the  Street  Department,  who  made  the  previous  examina- 
tion, and  I  am  satisfied  that  there  is  no  material  improvement. 
Here  and  there  their  condition  may  be  better  but  oftener  it  is 
much  worse. 

These  sewers  illustrate  every  possible  defect.  Their  size 
and  shape  are  not  uniform.  Sometimes  there  is  1 6-inch 
pipe  made  to  take  the  sewage  of  a  five-foot  sewer.  On  Fifth 
street  at  Bryant  the  bottom  of  the  lateral  is  eighteen  inches 
below  that  into  which  it  must  discharge.  In  many  there  are 
rotten  bricks,  sandy  mortar,  and  in  one  place  the  bricks  were 
found  replaced  by  empty  barrels.  It  is  difficult  to  make  a 
large  brick  sewer  water  tight  ;  and  when  a  rainstorm  comes 
the  sewage  pours  out  with  the  subsoil,  poisoning  the  very 
foundations  of  the  city.  The  foul  subsoil  air  is  kept  down  by 
modern  improvements,  and  is  forced  out  sideways  under  the 
basements  of  the  houses.  The  expense  of  cleaning  and  re- 
pairing sewers  would  soon  suffice  to  reconstruct  the  entire 
sewage  of  San  Francisco.  One  year  it  amounted  to  $34,775 
The  McAllister-street  sewer  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  city 
It  runs  from  Devisadero  to  Market,  and  its  grade  is  uniform 
and  favorable.  It  carries  a  large  bulk  of  sewage.  From  the 
ist  of  January,  1891,  till  now,  it  has  cost  $846.29  for  cleaning 
and  repairs. 

Whether  full  or  empty,  the  larger  the  sewers  the  greater  is 
the  stench.  The  stinks  of  Chinatown  rise  uninterruptedly 
to  the  palaces  of  Nob  Hill.  I  remember  returning  from  a 
night's  visit  on  a  lovely  summer  morning  at  sunrise,  and 
I  was  nearly  suffocated  with  the  stench  near  Mr.  Haggin's 
house. 

I  have  thus  demonstrated  that  there  does  not  exist  one  single 
yard  of  sewer  in  this  city  which  fulfills  the  problem  as  pro- 


—  19  — 

posed, — not  a  yard  which  fulfills  its  duty  with  safety  to  the 
public  health.  In  fact  the  more  sewers  we  make  on  the  prin- 
ciples laid  down  by  engineers,  the  more  is  the  public  health 
impaired. 

THE  EFFECT  OF  MORE  SEWERS. 

Total  Length  Zymotic 

Year.  of  Sewers,      Death  Rate.        Diseases,      Diphtheria,    Typhoid  Fever, 

Miles.  per  100,000.     per  ioo,oco.        per  100,000. 

1 880-8 1    .    .          130  18.5  275  16.6  37.1 

1885-86     .    .  153  19.0  277  79.8  36.0 

1890-91    .    .          227  20.15  316  100.0  43.0 

But  it  is  time  to  restate  the  problem  we  are  discussing  in 
accordance  with  our  knowledge  of  sanitary  science  and  the 
laws  which  regulate  the  propagation  of  disease.  Here,  then, 
is  my  sanitary  standard.  I  maintain  that  "all  the  organic 
"  refuse  of  associated  human  life,  which  can  be  conveyed  by 
"  water,  must  be  promptly  and  completely  removed  miles 
"  away  from  the  dwellings  of  the  people  in  well-flushed  and 
((  well-ventilated  conduits,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent  the 
"  growth  and  propagation  of  putrefactive  and  disease-pro- 
"  ducing  germs,  and  to  no  other  destination  than  the  land 
"  which  thirsts  for  it,  the  land  which  alone  disarms  it  of  its 
"  dangers,  the  land  which  becomes  exhausted  and  unfertile  if 
"  its  demands  for  organic  refuse  are  not  naturally  supplied." 

No  fact  is  better  established  than  the  intimate  relation 
between  putrefaction  and  disease,  and  putrefaction  cannot 
occur  even  in  organic  refuse  if  the  germs  have  been  de- 
stroyed. Typhoid  fever,  diphtheria,  measles,  scarlet  fever,  ery- 
sipelas, childbed  fever,  whooping  cough,  diarrhea,  dysentery, 
cholera,  pneumonia  and  consumption  are  all  germ  diseases. 
It  has  been  shown  that  many  of  these  germs  are  associated 
with  sewer  emanations,  and  that  others  grow  rather  in  the  sub- 
soil or  on  the  surface  of  dirty  linen,  dirty  walls  or  the  surface 
of  manure  heaps.  All  fluids  containing  organic  refuse  contain 
germs  in  more  or  less  abundance.  Sometimes  there  are  one 
thousand  and  another  time  as  many  as  50,000  in  a  single  drop. 
Sometimes  they  are  innumerable. 

The  number  of  germs  of  sewage  is  multiplied  during  its 
course  through  the  sewers.  It  is  in  the  drains  and  sewers 
that  the  germs  find  all  the  conditions  favorable  to  germ  life, 
viz.,  warmth,  moisture  and  organic  refuse.  I  have  a  letter 


from  Dr.  Sternberg,  America's  most  distinguished  bacteriolo- 
gist, stating  that  all  the  more  dangerous  microbes  grow  best 
in  dark  and  ill-ventilated  places  ;  that  the  damp  walls  of 
.sewers  are  excellent  cultivation  surfaces.  I  remarked  but 
now  that  the  sewage  of  Channel  street  gave  certain  proof  that 
putrefaction  had  commenced  long  before  the  sewage  reached 
the  outlet.  There  are  over  50,000  germs  in  one  single  drop  of 
this  sewage,  and  every  germ  in  that  drop,  if  placed  in  a  cul- 
ture medium,  gives  rise  to  a  colony  of  millions.  The  larger 
the  sewer  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  sewage  passing 
through  it,  the  greater  is  the  growth  of  microbe  life. 

When  sewage  travels  onward  through  clean  conduits,  it  car- 
ries with  it  the  few  germs  which  it  may  at  first  contain  or  after 
wards  acquire  on  the  road,  but  stagnation,  even  of  only  a  tea- 
spoonful  for  a  few  short  hours,  allows  of  the  development  of  a 
million  germs.  The  germs  thus  grown  mix  with  the  moisture  of 
the  sewer  air,  and  if  not  at  once  destroyed,  as  they  will  be  by  con- 
tact with  pure  air,  they  are  diffused  over  the  whole  interior  of 
the  sewer  and  are  liable  to  escape  into  the  subsoil  and  the 
houses.  The  absence  of  foul  deposits  is,  therefore,  no  test  of 
that  cleanliness  which  is  necessary  for  public  safety.  Let  us 
take  for  example,  say  a  sewer  on  the  side  of  Clay-street  hill. 
The  sewer-  is  three  by  five  feet  and  you  may  walk  up  it.  Grant 
that  it  has  been  well  graded  and  is  in  good  repair,  almost  an 
impossibility  on  a  rapid  grade  where  the  velocity  of  the  storm- 
waters  wash  out  the  bricks  from  the  bottom  and  leave  it  broken 
into  holes. 

Our  sewer,  however,  shall  be  smooth  and  dry.  From  time 
to  time  a  momentary  flow  of  sewage  comes  from  some  neigh- 
boring house.  It  passes  down  to  the  bottom  with  great  rapid- 
ity, but  enough  is  left  behind  to  saturate  the  brickwork.  The 
whole  interior  soon  becomes,  therefore,  damp  with  filthy  vapor 
in  which  the  putrefying  and  disease-producing  germs  grow 
with  extraordinary  vigor.  There  may  be  a  deposit  in  a 
nearly  level  sewer,  but  if  the  sewage  flow  is  steady  and  occu- 
pies" the  greater  part  of  the  sewer's  area  there  is  no  space  for  the 
germs  to  grow  upon  the  walls.  The  oftener  a  sewer  is  nearly 
filled  with  flowing  sewage  the  safer  it  will  be. 

No  sewers  are  so  dangerous  as  those  which  are  nearly 
always  empty  and  in  Avhich  no  deposits  can  possibly  occur. 


—  21  — 

These  are  the  self-cleansing  sewers  of  the  engineers.  Germs 
are  universally  present  in  the  atmosphere,  and  they  seize  upon 
organic  refuse  immediately.  Filth,  therefore,  cannot  be 
removed  by  filth.  What  would  any  of  you  ladies  say  if  you 
should  see  the  cook  cleaning  her  kitchen  floor  with  dishwater, 
or  worse  still,  with  house  sewage  in  the  aggregate.  It  must 
therefore  be  assumed  that  no  sewer  can  be  self-cleansing  from 
a 'sanitary  point  of  view.  The  only  means  to  prevent  the 
growth  of  putrefaction  and  disease-producing  germs  is  to  flush 
all  sewers  repeatedly  and  effectually  with  that  best  and 
cheapest  germicide,  clean  cold  water,  and  to  ventilate  them 
thoroughly  with  pure  fresh  air.  In  order  to  protect  and  main- 
tain the  public  health,  I  maintain  that  every  sewer  in  the  city 
should  be  flushed  so  as  to  run  three-fourths  full,  and  with  a 
velocity  of  not  less  than  three  feet  per  second,  every  six  hours 
regularly,  both  by  day  and  night.  In  the  next  place,  it  is 
obvious  that  sewers,  to  be  thus  treated,  must  be  restricted  in 
their  size.  A  mountain  torrent  would  scarcely  suffice  to  flush 
out  the  great  sewers  to  which  attention  has  been  drawn.  It  is 
also  impracticable  to  flush  a  five-foot  sewer.  Nearly  every 
autumn  the  sewer  authorities  have  a  flushing  craze.  You  see 
men  at  the  corners  turning  in  water  from  the  nearest  hydrant 
through  a  four-inch  hose.  You  hear  considerable  commotion 
at  the  point  of  entrance,  a  little  foul  material  is  moved  on  a 
few  feet  by  the  initial  current  but  this  is  soon  retarded  into  a 
trickling  stream  which  passes  on  whilst  the  solid  filth  is  left 
behind.  The  cesspool  is  cleaned,  but  its  contents  are  washed 
into  the  sewer. 

Thus  then  we  are  driven,  first  by  the  sad  experience  of  the 
past,  and  now  by  purely  scientific  reasoning,  to  small  sewers 
and  the  exclusion  of  the  rainfall.  Now  I  would  observe  that 
the  question  before  us  requires  no  engineering  data  for  its 
settlement.  We  are  told  by  the  University  Professor  of  Civil 
Engineering,  Prof.  Soule,  that  Col.  Waring,  the  most  dis- 
tinguished advocate  of  the  separate  system,  has  no  reputation 
amongst  engineers  and  owes  his  notoriety  to  the  newspapers. 
But  years  before  Memphis  was  sewered  on  the  separate  plan, 
the  principle  was  maintained  by  Sir  Edwin  Chadwick,  and  has 
been,  to  a  large  extent,  acknowledged  by  Sir  R.  Rawlinson. 
Besides,  the  newspapers  are  not  always  wrong.  The  fact  is 


—  22  — 

that  small  sewers  are  altogether  outside  the  experience  of  the 
majority  of  engineers  accustomed  to  the  construction  of  sewers 
large  enough  to  carry  off  the  rainfall,  and  who  are  satisfied 
with  the  so-called  self-cleansing  process.  The  .small  sewer 
appeals  to  the  intelligence  and  pockets  of  the  people  rather 
than  to  interests  of  experts  who  live  on  high  contracts  and 
fat  commissions. 

But  again.  Once  it  is  settled  to  exclude  the  rainfall,  trie 
problem  is  simplified,  and  we  stand  on  firmer  ground.  We  are 
no  longer  embarrassed  by  the  prospect  of  excessive  rainfalls 
which  will  burst  the  sewers  and  flood  the  cellars,  nor  will  the 
seasons  interfere.  The  quantity  of  house  sewage  is  a  baga- 
telle compared  with  rainfall.  It  is  uniform  throughout  the 
year,  and  may  be  estimated  with  reasonable  exactitude.  In 
this  city  it  consists  wholly  of  the  domestic  water  supply  fur- 
nished by  the  Spring  Valley  company,  whose  meters  may  be 
made  available  for  its  measurement.  Our  sewerage  authori- 
ties have  .no  conception  whatever  how  small  it  really  is. 
Mr.  Humphreys  estimates  the  quantity  at  eight  cubic  feet  per 
day  per  head,  or  about  sixty  gallons.  Mr.  Smith  put  it  down 
to  twenty  gallons,  and  states  that  there  is  little  doubt  that,  if  the 
rainfall  could  be  excluded  from  properly  constructed  sewers, 
they  would  become  self-cleaning.  As  this  estimate  is  still  too 
large,  it  must  be  affirmed  that  the  utmost  that  can  be  ex- 
pected from  household  sewage  is  to  carry  the  more  solid  mat- 
ters to  the  street,  and  that  all  public  sewers  must  be  flushed  to 
keep  them  clean. 

In  England  inquiries  have  recently  been  made  on  this  very 
question,  and  it  is  stated  on  the  best  authority  that  the  quan- 
tity of  water  required  for  household  consumption,  giving  a 
fair  allowance  for  general  purposes,  and  including  water-clos- 
ets and  baths,  is  more  than  covered  by  an  average  of  ten  gal- 
lons per  head  per  day.  This  is  more  than  confirmed  by 
inquiries  I  have  made  here.  Failing  to  obtain  the  necessary 
information  at  Spring  Valley,  I  applied  to  the  health  officer  at 
San  Diego,  who,  after  careful  inquiry,  states  his  astonish- 
ment that  the  domestic  consumption  there  is  only  eight  and 
one-half  gallons  per  head  per  day.  I  have  also  ascertained, 
through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Mastick,  the  domestic  consump- 
tion in  Alameda  during  the  month  of  January  last.  The  aver- 


—  23  — 

age  monthly  consumption  per  house  was  2,759  gallons,  or 
eighty-nine  gallons  per  day.  In  Alameda  there  are  seven  per- 
sons to  a  house.  The  total  domestic  consumption  is  less  than 
thirteen  gallons  per  head  per  day.  Ten  gallons  per  head  in 
San  Francisco  is  three  million  gallons  daily,  and  as  a  sewer 
twenty-four  inches  in  diameter  with  a  gradient  of  one  to  one 
thousand  will  deliver  four  million  gallons  in  twenty-four  hours, 
it  follows  that  the  whole  daily  domestic  sewage  of  our  city 
might  be  discharged  through  a  twenty-four  inch  sewer  in 
eighteen  hours.  It  is  therefore  evident  that,  rainfall  being  ex- 
cluded, we  have  no  need  for  large  sewers.  The  problem  is 
indeed  reduced  to  reasonable  and  exact  dimensions,  and  our 
health  and  pockets  will  be  saved.  This  conclusion  has  been 
abundantly  confirmed  whenever  small  sewers  properly  con- 
structed and  properly  administered  have  been  tried.  In  Ber- 
lin there  are  no  sewers  larger  than  twenty-four  inches  in 
diameter,  and  the  house  drains  are  only  four  inches.  When 
one  drain  does  not  suffice  to  carry  off  the  sewage,  as  may  be 
the  case  in  large  hotels,  the  sewer  is  not  enlarged,  but  a  second 
of  the  same  size  is  put  in.  The  system  of  small  sewers  has 
now  been  adopted  in  many  American  cities,  and  the  number  is 
increasing  daily.  Under  the  advice  of  Col.  Waring  it  has 
been  constructed  at  San  Diego,  L,os  Angeles,  Santa  Barbara, 
San  lyuis  Obispo  and  Stockton,  in  the  last  case  under  the  im- 
mediate direction  and  advice  of  Mr.  Marsden  Manson.  It  is 
also  in  operation  at  the  Iceland  Stanford  Junior  University. 
As  experience  shows  the  difficulties  encountered,  improve- 
ments have  been  made. 

I  will  now  give  a  few  examples  :  First,  San  Diego,  which 
occupies  an  area  of  one  thousand  acres  and  has  sixteen  thous- 
and inhabitants.  There  are  forty-one  miles  of  sewers,  of  which 
thirty-five  are  in  daily  use.  The  main  sewer  is  twenty-four 
inches  in  diameter.  There  are  sixty-five  flushing  tanks  in 
daily  use,  and  eleven  are  operated  on  alternate  days.  One 
man  is  required  to  keep  them  in  order.  The  water  bill  for 
flushing  is  forty-three  dollars  a  month.  During  the  greatest 
flow  the  sewers  run  one- third  full.  Even  in  business  streets 
full  of  houses  the  sewers  do  their  work  well.  The  streets 
are  swept  daily  after  business  hours,  and  there  is  no  trouble 
with  the  rainfall.  Where  there  are  elevators  a  four-inch  drain 


—  24  — 

was  found  inadequate,  and  a  six-inch  had  to  be  put  in.  The 
total  cost  was  $386,000,  including  a  long  outfall  sewer  and 
a  costly  sewage  reservoir,  which  proved  a  great  mistake  and 
is  now  disused.  In  1891  the  death  rate  was  11.3  per  thous- 
and, and  this  in  spite  of  the  deaths  of  many  invalids  attracted 
by  the  climate.  There  has  been  no  diphtheria,  no  diarrhoea, 
and  only  one  death  from  typhoid  fever.  Dr.  Magee  writes 
that  there  are  no  deposits,  no  stoppages,  no  smells,  that  the 
sewers  work  well  and  are  a  great  success. 

The  second  example  is  nearer  home.  In  Alameda  the  sew- 
erage has  been  recently  reconstructed  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  Herman  Schussler,  one  of  the  minority  of  engineers  who 
recognizes  the  sanitary  and  economical  value  of  the  Waring 
system.  Here  there  are  twelve  thousand  inhabitants,  occupy- 
ing eighteen  hundred  houses  on  an  area  of  2,200  acres.  All 
the  houses  are  connected  with  the  sewers.  The  rainfall  is 
dealt  with  in  well-paved  gutters  on  each  side  of  the  road- 
ways. It  gives  no  inconvenience  and  finds  its  way  to  the  bay. 
There  are  forty-one  miles  of  sewers,  the  largest  being  fourteen 
inches  in  diameter.  There  aie  130  flushing  tanks  of  the  form 
exhibited.*  Their  action  is  automatic.  Fifty  gallons  of  clean 
water  is  dumped  into  the  head  of  each  lateral  sewer  four 
times  a  day.  It  fills  the  whole  area  of  the  sewer  for  a  con- 
siderable distance.  On  the  lowest  grades,  one  in  250,  it  travels 
about  three  feet  per  second,  and  clears  out  everything  which 
has  been  deposited  during  the  previous  six  hours.  No  sewer 
runs  more  than  half  full  except  when  flushed.  The  outfall 
sewers  are' three  in  number:  they  are  filled  at  high  tide  with 
salt  water  and  are  clear  at  low  tide.  I  consider  them  the  least 
satisfactory  part  of  the  system.  There  are  no  deposits,  no 
bad  odors,  and  stoppages  are  unknown.  Should  there  be  the 
least  evidence  of  smell  the  flush  tanks  are  set  to  empty  them- 
selves more  frequently.  In  some  laterals  there  is  no  need  for 
flushing  every  day.  The  sewers  are  very  freely  ventilated  at 
the  tanks,  man-holes  and  houses. 

The  entire  management,  regulation  and  repairs  occupy  two- 
thirds  of  the  time  of  two  men.  The  water  used  in  flushing 
costs  thirty  cents  per  thousand  gallons,  or  about  $8.00  per 
day.  The  Alamedans  boast  that  they  are  as  healthy  a  corn- 


vide  Appendix. 


—  25  — 

munity  as  any  in  the  world  of  a  like  size.  Last  year  there 
were  144  deaths,  giving  a  death  rate  of  only  twelve  per  thous- 
and. Forty-five  of  these  deaths  were  of  immigrants,  invalids 
attracted  by  the  climate,  coming  of  less  than  one  year's  residence. 
There  were  nine  deaths  from  diptheria,  but  in  no  instance  was 
it  caused  by  local  insanitary  conditions ;  none  of  the  children 
were  attending  school.  The  medical  officer  is  satisfied  that 
these  deaths  arose  from  intercourse  with  Oakland  and  San 
Francisco.  The  total  cost  of  the  Alameda  sewers,  including 
flushing  tanks,  man-holes  and  outfall  sewers,  was  $290,000. 
The  outfalls  alone  cost  $60,000,  and  all  the  rest  cost  about  one 
dollar  per  foot.  After  repeated  inspections  I  am' of  opinion 
that  Alameda  is  sewered  better  and  more  safely  than  any  city 
in  the  world.  Let  me  beg  every  one  who  is  interested  in  this 
question — and  who  is  not? — to  inspect  it  for  themselves.  Mr. 
E.  B.  Mastick,  the  well-known  lawyer,  is  the  moving  spirit  of 
this  admirable  work.  He  is  the  inventor  and  patentee  of  the 
very  simple  flushing  tank  you  see  before  you.  This  is  placed 
on  the  border  of  the  sidewalks,  in  a  brick  cistern  covered  with 
an  iron  lid.  The  total  cost  in  place  is  $50.  This  is  a  flusher 
of  smaller  dimensions  made  for  domestic  use.  The  tank  is  fed 
from  the  bath  tubs,  wash  basins,  laundry  and  kitchen,  and  the 
flush  is  delivered  into  the  highest  initial  point  of  the  house 
drain.  Everything  in  front  is  effectually  carried  out  to  the 
street  sewer.  All  large  houses  should  have  one  of  these. 

Now  once  more  to  revert  to  San  Francisco  that  I  may  con- 
trast the  very  latest  work  of  our  sewerage  authorities  with 
that  of  Alameda. 

The  Richmond  District  is  situated  north  of  the  park,  being 
bounded  by  Twelfth  and  Thirty-second  Avenues  east  and  west 
and  by  D  street  on  the  south  and  Lake  street  on  the  north. 
The  area  is  about  500  acres.  The  district  is  entirely  indepen- 
dent of  the  San  Francisco  sewers.  The  surface  is  elevated 
from  150  to  250  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  to 
which  an  outlet  will  be  made.  There  are  no  natural  water- 
courses. The  ground  consists  of  a  deep  drifted  sand,  by  which 
the  rainfall  is  absorbed  with  great  rapidity,  making  under- 
ground quicksands  and  watercourses  which  drain  into  Moun- 
tain Lake.  It  is  evident  that  there  can  be  no  need  for  special 
arrangements  to  take  away  the  rainfall.  Judging  from  the 
assessment  frontage,  there  are  about  twenty  miles  of  streets. 


—  26  — 

At  the  petition  of  the  property  owners  the  streets  were 
graded  and  an  assessment  district  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
building  sewers.  I  suppose  these  plans  were  made  without 
either  the  knowledge  or  consent  of  the  petitioners.  Contracts 
were,  however,  entered  into  about  two  years  ago,  and  about 
three  and  a  half  miles  of  sewers  have  been  constructed  ;  2.62 
miles  are  of  brick,  mostly  three  by  five,  and  eight  tenths  of  a 
mile  of  it  is  pipe  sewer  of  considerable  size.  There  is  no  flush- 
ing apparatus  ;  indeed,  flushing  destroys  brick  sewers  of  this 
size  with  great  rapidity.  Besides  there  is  no  natural  supply 
of  water.  The  sewers,  although  completed,  have  not  as  yet 
received  a  -drop  of  sewage  ;  many  are  hermetically  sealed  to 
keep  out  sand  ;  they  await  the  construction  of  the  outfall. 
This  three  and  a  half  miles  of  sewers  has  cost  $142,000,  or 
about  $40,000  a  mile.  The  plans  for  the  outfall  are  complete  ; 
they  will  be  constructed  on  the  usual  gigantic  scale,  and  the 
largest  will  be  six  feet  five  inches  in  width  and  five  feet  nine 
inches  high,  with  an  invert  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Army 
street. 

The  construction  of  this  huge  conduit  is,  of  course,  designed 
for  the  conveyance  of  prospective  rainfall,  because  all  the  pos- 
sible household  sewage  of  the  district  would  be  easily  and 
safely  delivered  by  a  twelve-inch  pipe.  The  ground  being 
full  of  quicksands,  the  sewer  will  have  to  be  timbered  and  con- 
creted underneath  in  many  places  ;  part  also,  is  tunneled,  and 
the  probable  cost  for  3,300  feet  will  be  over  $60,000.  But  when 
this  is  finished  there  will  be  more  to  do.  Only  five  out  of 
twenty  miles  of  streets  will  be  provided  with  sewers.  Observe 
also  that  it  will  be  quite  impossible  to  keep  out  sand.  Clouds 
of  it  rise  with  every  breeze  ;  it  will  collect  at  the  corners,  and 
the  first  rainstorm  will  fill  up  the  cesspools  as  it  does  everywhere 
in  the  Western  Addition.  The  evils  of  Channel  street  will  be 
repeated.  In  summer  time  there  can  be  no  flow  of  sewage  ; 
until  the  district  is  settled  up  with  houses  and  inhabitants,  no 
sewage  will  ever  reach  the  outlet,  but  will  fester  underneath 
the  streets. 

In  such  a  district,  provision  for  the  rainfall  could  have  been 
easily  and  cheaply  made  by  gutters  on  the  streets.  Everywhere 
else  it  sinks  into  the  porous,  sandy  soil,  and  it  is  just  for  such 
conditions  that  the  separate  system  is  best  adapted.  Now  it  is 


—  27  — 

impossible  to  believe  that  the  property  owners  exercised  the 
least  control  over  this  work,  or  that  the  true  situation  was 
explained  to  them.  When  private  individuals  start  in  upon 
works  of  this  nature,  they  usually  seek  the  latest  information. 
They  look  first  for  efficiency  and  then  for  true  economy. 

Let  me  offer  an  example  close  at  hand.  The  South  San 
Francisco  Land  &  Improvement  Company  have  recently  lo- 
cated a  townsite  at  South  San  Francisco.  Its  area  is  172  acres, 
and  provision  will  be  made  for  30,000  inhabitants.*  The  town 
will  have  six  miles  of  streets.  Every  street  will  be  sewered, 
and  the  laterals  will  be  carried  to  the  margin  of  every  lot. 
The  rainfall  will  be  dealt  with  on  the  surface,  being  carried 
away  by  gutters  on  the  sides  of  the  roadways.  The  gentle- 
men interested  have  no  one  to  consult.  They  have  had  no 
occasion  to  petition  for  the  services  of  the  city  engineer.  They 
have  had  personal  experience  of  the  Waring  system  at  Omaha, 
where  three-quarters  of  a  mile  square  is  sewered  on  the  separate 
plan,  and  this  notwithstanding  the  frightful  rainstorms  which 
occur  there.  They  are  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  Waring 
system  is  the  best,  and  they  expect  to  profit  by  their  Omaha 
experience  and  to  make  it  perfect.  The  six  miles  of  sewers 
will  be  constructed  under  close  supervision  by  day  labor.  The 
materials  will  be  the  best  obtainable.  The  pipes  are  vastly 
superior  to  those  in  use  in  San  Francisco.  They  will  be 
joined  by  the  Stanhope  plan.  Every  sewer  will  be  made 
water  tight  and  tested  before  covered  up.  The  largest  sewer 
for  these  30,000  people  will  have  a  diameter  of  ten  inches, 
and  there  will  be  only  500  feet  of  it.  There  will  be  7,000  feet 
of  eight-inch  sewer,  5,300  feet  of  six-inch  sewer  and  over  10,000 
feet  of  four-inch.  There  will  be  Mastick  flushers  at  the  head  of 
every  sewer  ;  manholes  on  the  Alameda  plan  at  the  proper 
points.  The  gradients  are  moderate  and  increase  toward  the 
outlets.  When  completed,  South  San  Francisco  will  be  more 
perfectly  and  more  safely  sewered  than  any  other  place  with 
which  I  am  acquainted.  The  water  for  flushing  is  obtained 
from  two  artesian  wells  which  yield  1,200,000  gallons  daily,  or 
an  average  of  forty  gallons  per  head  per  day  of  the  population. 
This  is  twenty-five  per  cent  higher  than  the  supply  of  London 
and  the  manufacturing  cities  of  England.  But  its  quantity 
may  easily  be  increased.  The  sewers,  small  as  they  are,  will 


—  28  — 

take  it  easily  away,  and  will  not  run  more  than  half  full  except 
when  flushed. 

Now  the  cost  of  this  admirable  system,  complete  at  all  points, 
will  be  under  fifty  cents  a  foot,  say  $2,700  a  mile.  Instead  of 
paying  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  five  miles,  the  pro- 
prietors of  South  San  Francisco  will  construct  six  miles  for  less 
than  sixteen  thousand  dollars  and  get  flushers  free.  If  the 
Richmond  people  had  adopted  the  separate  plan  they  would 
have  saved*  $184, ooo. 

Even  now  I  believe  it  would  be  better  to  save  the  sixty 
thousand  dollars  which  the  outfall  will  surely  cost,  and 
commence  de  novo  on  the  separate  plan.  For  half  this  sum 
they  may  secure  ten  miles  of  sewers  with  manholes,  flushers 
and  outfall  complete,  and  with  the  other  thirty  thousand  they 
may  make  roads,  gutters,  parks  and  erect  a  statue  to  the  city 
engineer. 

To  sum  up  the  advantages  of  the  separate  system  of  small 
sewers  : 

1.  They  are  adapted  for  constant  daily  use  throughout  the 
whole  year,  the  larger  being  worse  than  useless  when  there  is 
no  rainfall. 

2.  They  are  constructed    to  carry  quickly  to   the    outlet  a 
definite  amount  of  liquid  containing  all  the  organic  refuse  of 
associated  human  life. 

3.  They  can  be  made  water-tight,  which  is  not  possible  with 
the  brick  sewers. 

4.  The  quantity  of  sewage  and  the  gradients  being  equal, 
the  velocity  is  greatest  in  small  sewers,  and  the  sewage  travels 
more  quickly,  and  more  safely  to  the  outlet. 

5.  Sewers,  whether  large  or  small,  are  never  self-cleansing, 
but  small  sewers  can  be  kept  clean  and  free  from  stoppages 
by  frequent  flushing  with  a  reasonable  amount  of  water,  while 
large  retain  the  filth,  promote  deposits  and  are  impracticable 
to  flush. 

6.  Small  sewers  are  more  easily  ventilated  than  large  ones. 

7.  There  is  less  room  for  the  growth  of  putrefaction  and 
disease-producing  germs. 

8.  If  the  vSewage  has  to  be  raised  by  pumping,  the  quantity 
is  uniform  and  is  reduced  within  practical   limits.     All  the 
sewage   is   pumped  into  San  Francisco  by  the  Spring  Valley 
Water  Company,  and  can  be  pumped  out  more  readily. 


—  29  — 

g.  If  the  sewage  has  to  be  taken  into  deep  water  far  away 
from  the  foreshores,  the  necessary  prolongations  of  the  sewers 
will  be  small  and  easily  put  in  place,  whilst  it  will  be  impos- 
sible to  carry  the  Brannan-street  sewer  far  into  the  bay;  and 
it  is  offensive  where  it  is. 

10.  Small    sewers    are    never    choked,     are    less   liable    to 
deposits,    are   more  easily    cleaned,    are    more   durable,   and 
when  injured  less  costly  to  repair. 

11.  They  are  constructed  at  one-tenth  the  cost. 

12.  They  have  reduced  the  death  rate  in  all  cities  in  which  they 
have  been  used. 

In  conclusion  my  hope  is  that  San  Francisco  will  profit  by 
these  important  and  instructive  lessons.  As  the  natural  water- 
courses are  destroyed,  let  the  existing  sewers  be  used  to  con- 
duct the  rainfall  to  the  bay.  There  will  be  no  need  to  prolong 
their  outlets.  Rainwater  will  create  no  nuisance  on  the  fore- 
shores, nay,  rather,  it  will  help  to  cleanse  them.  We  have 
seen  that  these  ill-constructed  conduits  are  fit  for  nothing 
else.  They  cannot  be  purified  except  by  keeping  sewage 
out  of  them.  The  entire  system  of  house  drainage  must 
be  reconstructed  on  the  separate  plan,  a  work  which  will 
not  be  costly  and  is  sure  to  improve  the  public  health.  Accord- 
ing to  the  last  municipal  report  there  are  227  miles  of  sewers. 
Spring  Valley  has  280  miles  of  water-mains,  and  every  main 
requires  a  sewer,  so  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  construct  say 
300  miles  of  sewers  on  the  South  San  Francisco  plan.  Instead  of 
placing  the  cost  at  $2,700  a  mile  let  us  make  it  $5,000,  and  the 
whole  city  will  be  provided  for  by  a  million  and  a  half,  or  the 
cost  of  preventable  sickness  and  death  for  one  year.  We  shall 
not  have  less  than  two  thousand  flushers  of  the  Alameda  type, 
all  to  be  operated  every  six  hours  or  oftener;  and  it  maybe  asked 
where  shall  we  get  the  water,  and  I  propose  to  get  it  without 
the  expenditure  of  a  single  cent.  The  Spring  Valley  people  say 
that  the  daily  winter  consumption  for  the  city  is  eighteen 
million  gallons,  or  sixty  gallons  per  head.  If  we  put  the 
household  consumption  at  fifteen  gallons,  which  is  fifty  per 
cent  higher  than  that  of  London  or  the  English  cities,  it  is 
obvious  that  there  must  be  a  domestic  waste  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  gallons  more.  With  this  enormous  waste  we  cannot 
expect  any  reduction  in  the  water  rates.  To  reduce  this  waste 


—  30  — 

is  a  necessity  which  must  arise  in  the  near  future.  This 
waste  is  due  to  ill-constructed  closets  and  bad  fittings.  It 
may  be  almost  entirely  stopped.  In  several  English  cities  the 
consumption  of  water  has  been  reduced  one-half  by  waste  pre- 
vention, and  if  you  will  consent  to  give  Spring  Valley  power 
to  control  the  fittings  and  to  diminish  waste,  I  venture  to 
affirm  that  they  will  gladly  give  you  all  the  water  necessary 
to  flush  every  sewer  in  the  city  four  times  every  day.  The 
arrangement  would  be  one  of  business.  If  we  had  five  thou- 
sand flushers,  they  would  consume  about  one  million  gallons 
daily,  and  the  Spring  Valley  would  certainly  save  ten. 

Thus  we  may  have  sewers,  washed  clean  as  a  dinner-plate. 
In  them  there  will  be  no  place  for  disease-producing  germs. 
The  citizens  will  then  have  a  chance  to  live  a  natural  term  of 
life  and  die  a  natural  death. 

As  a  practical  outcome  of  the  lecture  I  would  respectfully 
request  the  Mayor  to  summon  a  public  meeting  for  the  pur- 
pose of  establishing  a  San  Francisco  Sanitary  Association  with 
the  following  objects,  both  imperatively  necessary 'before  any- 
thing can  be  done  : 

i st.  To  instruct  the  public  in  all  matters  relating  to  public, 
domestic  and  personal  hygiene  in  order  that  a  reconstruction 
of  the  sewers  shall  have  popular  support. 

2d.  To  promote  a  reform  of  the  municipal  government  to 
the  extent  of  securing  a  stronger,  more  permanent  and  more 
extended  authority,  with  power  to  appoint  a  secretary,  engi- 
neer, medical  officer  of  health,  chief  inspector  of  nuisances, 
administrator  of  public  institutions,  and  chemist,  who  shall  be 
elected  and  retain  their  offices  during  good  behavior.  The 
personnel  of  this  authority  to  be  ex  officio  members  of  the 
Board  of  Supervisors. 


APPENDIX   A. 


THE 


The  tank  is  simple,  and  when  filled  turns  over  and  empties 
automatically.  No  parts  require  oil,  and  there  are  no  wearing 
surfaces.  When  empty  the  tank  recovers  its  original  position. 
It  is  fed  by  a  small  stream  from  the  water  mains,  and  it  may  be 
set  to  turn  over  every  two,  four,  six  or  twelve  hours  as  re- 
quired. It  is  only  necessary  to  see  that  the  water  tap  runs 
properly.  The  tank  is  placed  under  the  sidewalk,  and  is  cov- 
ered by  an  iron  lid.  The  cost  complete  in  place  is  under  $50. 

Mr.  Mastick  will  present  to  the  city  the  right  to  use  this 
patent  without  the  payment  of  royalties,  on  the  sole  condition 
that  he  be  satisfied  that  the  Flushers  shall  be  made  and  put  in 
place  to  his  satisfaction. 


The  printing  and  distribution  of  this  lecture  is  due  to 
the  public  spirit  and  generosity  of  Mrs.  Phoebe  Hearst, 
to  whom  and  the  late  Senator  the  author  owes  a  large 
debt  of  respect,  gratitude  and  friendship  extending  over 
many  years. 


CHANNEL=STREET  SEWER. 


PLATE   i. 

Germs  cultivated  from  one  drop  of  channel-street  sewage  taken  at  the  outlet  of 
the  sewer.  One  drop  has  been  mixed  with  sterilized  gelatine,  and  after  a  few  hours 
every  germ  present  grows  into  a  colony  of  millions.  There  are  upwards  of  fifty 
thousand  colonies  on  this  plate. 


WASHINGTON  AND  DRUMM  STREETS— HIGH   TIDE. 


PLATE   2. 


This  sewer  is  never  empty.  At  high  tide  it  is  filled  to  within  two  feet  two  inches 
of  the  surface  of  the  street,  and  the  sewage  is  diluted  with  sea  water.  The  number  of 
germs  in  one  drop  is  estimated  at  twenty-two  thousand. 


WASHINGTON  AND  DRUMM  STREETS-LOW  TIDE. 


PLATE   3. 

At  low  tide  it  contains  Ironi  two  to  three  teet  of  black  mud. 
drop  cannot  be  counted. 


The  germs  from  one 


EXPOSURE  TO  SEWER  GAS. 


PLATE  4. 

A  sterilized  plate  ol  gelatine  was  put  under  a  bell  glass,  over  one  ounce  of  the 
sewage  last  described.  Care  was  taken  to  avoid  contact  with  the  sewage.  In 
twenty-four  hours  the  plate  became  infected  from  the  air,  and  in  forty  hours  this  plate 
exhibits  the  growth, — a  positive  evidence  of  the  dangerous  nature  of  sewer  emanations. 


These  cultivations  were  made  by  D.  H.  WAGNER,  of  506  Sutler  St.,  S.  F. 


SURFACE  OF  SIDEWALK; 


THE  MASTICK  FLUSHER. 

See  Appendix  A,  page  31. 


Rf 

TC 

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